1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic still camera with a printer section, and more particularly to a compact electronic still camera provided with a printer section that prints an image on recording paper on the basis of image data of a subject photographed through a taking lens, and a paper roll chamber for holding a roll of recording paper.
2. Background Arts
Electronic still cameras with a printer section therein have been developed and marketed. In many of such electronic still cameras, the printer section constitutes a photographic printer that prints an image on a self-developing photographic film such as a mono-sheet type instant film, as disclosed in JPA No. 11-249233. The photographic printer for the instant film takes a small space and consumes less power. Moreover, this type of electronic still camera may be loaded with a film pack containing a number of sheets of instant films, like in ordinary instant cameras.
Besides the electronic still camera with the photographic printer section, there have been disclosed an electronic still camera with a thermal printer section that prints an image on a heat sensitive type recording paper, for example in JPA Nos. 11-317897 and 10-257427.
In JPA No. 11-317897, the electronic still camera has the thermal printer section inside a grip which is located on one horizontal side of the camera body. A roll of heat-sensitive recording paper is loaded in a bottom portion inside the grip, whereas a thermal printing head are mounted in an upper portion inside the grip. Feed rollers feeds the heat-sensitive recording paper from the paper roll to the thermal printing head. After the printing, the recording paper is ejected through a slot formed on the top side of the grip.
In the electronic still camera as disclosed in JPA No. 10-257427, a roll of heat-sensitive recording paper is loaded in a grip, and a thermal printing head is located on opposite side of a lens barrel from the grip. The recording paper is fed from the roll to the thermal printing head and. After having an image recorded thereon, the recording paper is ejected through an exit formed on the opposite side from the grip.
Using a roll of recording paper, like in the above prior arts, has advantages that the waste of recording paper is reduced by minimizing margins around the respective images, and that the rolled recording paper is easy to load into the camera body. However, in order to load the recording paper roll in the grip of the camera body, the size of the roll, i.e. the diameter or the width of the roll, must be adjusted to the internal space of the grip. With such a small roll of recording paper, the number of available exposures is limited. Moreover, with the smaller diameter, the rolled recording paper inevitably gets curled the stronger. Providing the camera with a device for flattening the recording paper before the printing is undesirable in terms of compactness of the camera.
To lessen the curl of the rolled recording paper, it may be possible to roll the recording paper with a larger diameter inside the grip, and place a battery or the like inside the paper roll to make the most use of the internal space of the grip. However, since the grip should not be too large to handle, it is hard to accommodate the paper roll with a large diameter in the grip.